"This is a story that is often untold, and overlooked. A raw adventure of fighting the elements of illness, as a young wife and mother by seeking Jesus first. Start from the beginning, and see how the Lord can take a very broken and ill individual and bring about a truly unique LIFE and LOVE story." - BRYNN (& Jeremey and Tatum).

Thursday, May 31, 2012

This memorial day weekend was one to remember, aside from a long 3 1/2 day weekend, being able to relax, eat good food and spend time with many friends. I experienced something that I thought I would never experience again in this life due to my illness. It was a miracle of sorts. A huge moment for Jeremey and I, that almost seemed to slip right through the cracks without us noticing ...

After almost 6 years straight of chronic illness (that for many years kept me bed ridden, and in a wheel chair) without even thinking we got in the car and drove to the San Diego zoo with some friends of ours ... I got out of the car grabbed the stroller and spent the next 5 hours walking around the zoo, care free, dizzy free, and WHEELCHAIR free. Not to mention a good amount of that time I was chasing or carrying a 20 pound baby. I only sat down once when we grabbed a snack to eat. This was a miracle, a miracle that crept up without us noticing. Little by little in the last year, my body has allowed me to add longer and longer spurts to the amount of time that I am up walking or being active before having to rest. So much so, that it wasn't till we got to the zoo that day, when I realized, OMG, can I do this??? Just 8 months ago, when we took Tatum to Disneyland, I was in my wheelchair the WHOLE time. Praise the Lord for how far He has brought me. Not to say that there won't be times when I will have to be in that chair again, on my really sick days. But just the sheer fact that I went the whole day, without thinking twice is a miracle. The Lord has brought me leaps and bounds from where I use to be! It was Tatum's first time to the zoo, and a great day to remember. Continue to pray for my health though. I still have very hard days mixed in with the good!

It was a fun filled day with the Brays, and their sweet little son Noah. Thank you guys for inviting us on a whim, thus not allowing me to think too long as to whether or not I could actually do it ;)

PS: The day before I also spent walking around in downtown Temecula, old town, just not for as many hours. We explored the antique shops, and listened to the street singers. Again, without any notice to my vertigo. We snapped some pictures of Tatum who just turned 17 months old! What a blessing.

Friday, May 25, 2012

A couple months back I posted a blog about Tatum meeting my best friend Jenny for the first time during a trip her and her husband took down to the bible college.

What I forgot to write about a couple weeks later is how her and Cody packed up all their belongings on the island in Washington, and moved back down to southern California to start a new life here!!! How exciting huh, my best friend back in my home town, getting to share our lives together once again ...

Well, it was a great month and a half, but Cody and Jenny are now moving to Jerusalem, Israel. They will be there for 3 months teaching at the bible college over the summer. I don't know what the Lord has in store for them after their time there. But selfishly I would Love for them to move back here for good. Whatever the Lord wills!

Funny how quickly the Lord brings and takes people out of your life. So thankful for the time they were here. Love you guys. Have fun in the Holy Land!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I would have to say that of the hundreds of blogs I have posted in the last two years, this is the one that I most want my readers to see. Very few things I will ever post, will be as purposeful, or leave as big of an impact on your heart than this.

Several weeks back, I posted about our friend Brent Yim who was battling with a brain tumor, and shared a bit about his journey and his family. Two weeks ago today, Brent went home to spend Eternity with the Lord. The impact he left on EVERY single person he came in contact with is evident, as his, his wifes, his sisters and his moms facebook pages are still flooding with comments of thankfulness and encouragement because of the life Brent lived. I can say confidently that this man, his passion, his sermons, his faithfulness, his family, and his life will NEVER be forgotten.

Jeremey and I had the honor to work on the video for Brent's memorial service. To celebrate a life so well lived for the Lord was such a blessing. I was blessed to listen through 6 of Brent's sermons from the last year for the video. In those hours of listening, my heart was overwhelmed with such encouragement and a greater desire to live for the upward calling ... to live for eternity. Below I posted the video portion from the memorial. If you just stopped by my page quickly, I STRONGLY encourage you to watch it. And if you are strapped for time, thenI STRONGLY encourage you to begin watching it from the 8:45 mark. This is where we get to hear first hand from various sermons by Brent about what it is to be a Christian and live for Christ. Taken from the perspective of a man who was a battling a tumor that would eventually take his life. Some of the segments were taken from his very last sermon preached. He speaks with openness, rawness, and he speaks the truth. If you ever feel as though Christians only praise the Lord when things are going well, and tend to stray from Him when the trials come ... here is a man who pursued the Lord through it all. At his very own memorial service, he was able to preach the good news of the gospel and encourage us in OUR walks. (If you do not know Jesus, than this post it for you. If you do know Jesus, than this post if for you.) Thank you Brent for finishing the race well, and for being an everlasting example for us all. Praying continually, for his wife Andrea, his two sons, and the rest of his family.

If you would like to watch the entire memorial service you can go to Calvarychapelbiblecollege.com.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

A lot has been going on in the last week. It has been emotionally draining and so I'm going to hold out on posting about it, till everything starts to calm down ...

Till then, I wanted to share this news story from NBC. Many people wonder, as do I, how on earth I ended up with my chronic condition of vertigo. There have been many theories as to how and why I got this illness, and why it has not gone away in almost 6 years. My husband holds strong to one of these theories, and it just so happens to be exactly what this news story is about. For those that DON'T know, in my many years of playing competative soccer, I got 6 concussions. Due to this, some doctors and my husband assume that my concussions have led to long term brain trauma, resulting in many of the dibilitating symptoms that I have faced. The only reason I don't COMPLETELY 100% agree that that is the whole reason behind my illness, is because the onset of my symptoms happened nearly 5 years after I had stopped playing, and they tend to ebb and flow. Nonetheless, no doubt it probably contributes in some way. As I watched this news report, I felt like these girls were exactly me at 18 years old. I had the same drive for the sport, I got the same joy in playing in, and I had the same feelings towards continuing to play after already receiving concussions. I have many many friends who played soccer and DIDN'T ever get one concussion, so I'm not dogging the sport or telling people not to play. I am sad for these girls, but I know that people can get hurt doing anything. I do believe though, that there is a line that needs to be drawn. I Just wanted to throw this out there, for a little more background.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A couple blog posts back, I shared a video that Jeremey shot of our friend Chelsea Moon, and promised to upload the main music video that he was working on for her when he finished it. So here it is. The talented Chelsea Moon and the Franz brothers have done it again with their beautiful instrumental and vocal genius! (if you look closely, some of the shots were filmed in our front yard).

Our little ballerina loves dancing to Chelsea Moon's album, she has great taste!

About Me

I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Above everything else, THAT is what I want you to know about me. In other news ... I am married to my husband Jeremey, a Godly, Loving and funny man, who is more creative than anybody I have ever met. I have a daughter named Tatum, who is one of the greatest little gifts I have ever received. My blog is mostly about how I have been ill with a strange undiagnosed sickness for over 5 years, and how myself, my husband, daughter, and Jesus adventure through life under slightly more difficult than normal circumstances because of it. I am from Portland, Oregon, and my husband from Pheonix, Arizona. Practically worlds apart, but now we live in sunny southern California at Calvary Chapel bible college, where my husband works AV, teaches and makes movies. This is also where we both graduated from college. I am a stay at home momma, and Loving every second of it! Hope you enjoy the blog!